Activists, who were angered over authorities' attempts to regulate the food hawkers selling local holiday delicacies, battled with police into the early hours of Tuesday morning. Protestors pelted officers with paving stones, glass bottles and other pieces of debris; some threw garbage cans, plastic safety barriers and wood from shipping pallets. They also set fires on the street.

The unrest began when authorities tried to prevent the unlicensed street food sellers from operating Monday night in Mong Kok, a working-class district. The hawkers have become a local tradition during the Lunar New Year, but this year, authorities tried to remove them.

The scuffles underscore the unresolved tensions that remain after the end of the 2014 pro-democracy protests, known as the Umbrella Revolution, when activists occupied streets for about 11 weeks, demanding greater electoral freedom.

Editor's note: Some of the photos below contain graphic imagery.

Hong Kong Protests 2016

Smoke rises as protestors set fires on a street in the Mong Kok district of Hong Kong on Feb. 9.

Image: Vincent Yu/AP

Image: Vincent Yu/AP

Protestors throw bricks at police in Mong Kok district of Hong Kong, on Feb. 9.

Image: Vincent Yu/AP

Image: Kin Cheung/AP

Rioters throw bricks at police.

Image: Lam Yik Fei/Getty

Image: Lam Yik Fei/Getty

Riot police arrest a protestor in Mong Kok district of Hong Kong.

Image: Vincent Yu/AP

Image: Vincent Yu/AP

A rioter is taken away by police on a street in Mong Kok district of Hong Kong on Feb. 9.

Image: Kin Cheung/AP

Image: Vincent Yu/AP

Image: Vincent Yu/AP

Image: Lam Yik Fei/Getty

Image: Lam Yik Fei/Getty

Image: Anthony Kwan/Getty

An injured protestor in the Mong Kok district of Hong Kong.

Image: Anthony Kwan/Getty

A Hong Kong riot policewoman stands on a cordoned-off street following overnight clashes between protesters and police in the Mong Kok area of Hong Kong on Feb. 9

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